


The Adventures of Heda and Wanheda: Darkest Blood

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Series: Reincarnation AU [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Clexa, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/F, Family Feels, Fluff, Lexa's not batman but very close, Super women being super awesome, Wonder boy Aden
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-03 18:05:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17882630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: After killing the Ice Queen and barely making it out alive, Wanheda is still looking for her employer, the woman in red. With the help of her new partner (and girlfriend, maybe?) Heda and her new sidekick Nightblood, the trio will face countless dangers to get to the woman in red and stop whatever evils she's up to.





	1. Darkest Blood part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Another long-awaited story for some! As usual, just a quick heads up: This story is a spin-off of 'Nothing Could Drive Us Away', a reincarnation story I wrote some 14 months ago... This is more specifically a spin-off of the second interlude, a Superhero AU. If you want to go read it first, it's encouraged but not essential. If you're lazy and just want to read some superhero action, here's what you need to know:
> 
> Lexa is a superhero named Heda. She has enhanced abilities (strength, speed, agility...) Clarke is also a superhero, named Wanheda. She can corrupt things and make things die/degrade at a very accelerated speed. The Interlude also featured Anya, with telepathy/telekinesis. Finally, it is set in the late 70's ish. Sci-fi comic-book-ish 70's.
> 
> So what happened? Why make a spin-off 14 months later? Actually, I tried to write one a while back, but it was so boring. It would have been a long one-shot, but I bored myself writing it. However, earlier this month, SophiaFox17 left a review on NCDUA and asked me to consider writing the Superhero AU, if I could. So I did, and it led to this awesome story, set after the one-shot I never wrote and miles more interesting. So thank you, SophiaFox17!
> 
> As usual, if you want more, you can follow the story. I'll be posting a new chapter every Wednesday. Feel free to leave a review, it's free for you and a ton of joy for me! And I hope you enjoy!

 Previously on The Adventures of Heda and Wanheda...

After a rough meeting, where Clarke Griffin (Wanheda) helped Lexa Woods (Heda) capture the dangerous Spacewalker, our two leading ladies found themselves partnering up once again. A vigilante named Roan (Ice Prince) directed the amazing duo toward a super-criminal with powers similar to his, the terrible Ice Queen.

They found this Ice Queen hiding in the sewers, along with her many minions. She escaped capture, but Heda did get her hands on her right-hand woman, Ontari, who was swiftly sent to jail.

The hunt for the Ice Queen had begun, and Clarke introduced her super team to Lexa: Tech-genius and retired superhero Raven Reyes and human – but definitely not powerless – Octavia Blake. Together, they tracked down the Ice Queen to a warehouse, where our duo confronted her. The fight seemed lost, as both our heroes were on the verge of death when a young superhero made his appearance: Nightblood!

Nightblood and his fantastic imitating powers allowed the duo to turn the tide of battle. Heda killed Ice Queen with her own ice spike, dealing one last blow to her criminal organization. Nightblood introduced himself as Aden, an orphan and great fan of Heda. Lexa, seeing no alternative to keep the boy safe, decided to make him her sidekick.

With the day won and both of our heroes in the med-bay, recuperating from their wounds, Lexa finally decided to confess her feelings for the blonde. A happy ending indeed, as our duo finally spent the night together.

But our story doesn't end there, as the traitorous Roan used his powers to set Ontari free from prison and give her to a mysterious woman in a red dress...

* * *

**Darkest Blood - part 1**

Lexa was staring at the numbers in front of her. Rows and rows of numbers, detailing the department's expenses from the previous month. Enough to give her a headache. She tried to focus. Nothing was supposed to be distracting her. No super-villain she'd recently let slip through her fingers. No painful wound she was recuperating from. Nothing. Except that there was something, or rather, someone.

She missed Clarke. They hadn't seen each other since that night, and she couldn't get the blonde out of her head. Every time she let her mind wander, it went to Clarke, and to the memories they shared. Clarke laughing at her dumb joke. Clarke's back against hers as they fought off the Ice Queen's minions. Clarke's tears falling on her face as she shook her awake after the Ice Queen had frozen her. How blue her eyes had looked then. Clarke's lips on hers when they'd finally kissed for the first time. Clarke's...

"Lexa, we're at work, goddamnit!"

Lexa suddenly straightened in her chair and focused her tired eyes on the numbers once again. Her inner voice was right. She was at work, no time to fantasize on her... co-worker? Friend? No time to fantasize on Clarke. Then, she frowned. Her inner voice sounded exactly like Anya...

"Anya?"

"I have work to do, and I'd appreciate if you did your work too."

"What do you mean, do my work? You're the one spying on my thoughts instead of working!"

Lexa could imagine Anya in her own office glaring at the papers in front of her as if they were her.

"You have the loudest thoughts, Lexa! I can't concentrate with you thinking so loudly!"

"Well in that case maybe I should leave."

"No one is going to work on the monthly balance sheets for you. So just stop thinking about your girlfriend, and work."

"She's not my girlfriend! We're..."

Lexa sighed and looked down at the numbers once again.

"I'll just focus on work."

"Good. Now shut up."

Anya's voice disappeared out of Lexa's mind, leaving only numbers behind. Lexa started typing on her calculator once again and wrote down the result. She sighed once again, and allowed herself one last thought about the blonde before getting back to work:

"I wonder what Clarke is doing now."

* * *

Clarke didn't even bother to knock. Her powers corrupted the door, rusting the metal away in an instant, and with a punch, she took it down. It was torn off its hinges and flew straight into the man standing guard there. He fell to the ground, his unconscious body stuck under the broken down door. Clarke stepped over him quickly.

"I hope you're right, Raven..." she declared as she moved forward in the hallway.

"What do you mean? I'm always right!" Raven replied in her ear-piece.

Clarke decided to ignore her. She quickly noticed the door to her right opening. She forced it close and heard someone being pushed back. She took a deep breath. They had to be more than one henchman in the room. She closed her fists, and her powers corrupted the door, turning the wood to rotted splinters.  
She came face to face with six minions, all wearing the standard-issued black uniform with red highlights, the one she'd seen worn by Alie's followers. They all aimed at her. She didn't even bother running for cover. As they fired, their bullets turned to metal dust a foot before her. She took in a deep breath, extending the circle of influence her powers were reaching. The two men nearest to her position suddenly fell to the ground, chocking. Air was being drained out of their lungs. Their skin turned gray, with purple veins. A white veil fell over their eyes. She grabbed the nearest one and punched him in the temple. He stopped struggling and laid on his belly, unconscious.

The other four, still unaffected by her powers, stopped firing when they realized it was ineffective. They put their firearms back in their holsters and deployed stunned batons. Clarke prepared for a fight. She called back her powers to focus on her actions. She picked up the second men who'd been struggling to breathe by the collar of his jacket. Now that her powers were gone, his skin had gone back to its natural pale color, and so had his eyes. He was heaving and coughing, struggling to get air through his throat. She threw it over the table, on top of two of his companions. The three of them fell on the ground. They tried to push each other away, to get back to their feet as quickly as possible. Clarke picked up the heavy wooden table and threw it at them. One rolled out of the way. The two other got stuck under it.

One of the henchmen attacked her to her left. He swung his stun-baton over his head, trying to hit her face. She blocked the baton with her forearm. The baton hit the graphene protection. Clarke could hear the electricity crackling above her. She sent a low blow to the man's belly. He doubled over in pain, dropping his baton. Clarke kicked him in the jaw, pivoting on her left leg, and sent him to the ground.

Two gunshots rang, and Clarke frowned. She barely felt as two bullets hit her. Once bounced harmlessly off her breastplate, compressed like a scrambled piece of paper. The other had hit a bit lower, just under her sternum. The man standing beside the toppled table was shaking, waiting for her to show any reaction. When she finally did, it clearly wasn't what he was expecting.

The bullet was forced out of her body and the hole closed off before a single drop of blood could trickle out. Terrified, the man fired again, and again. To Clarke's left, the other man still standing fearfully imitated his partner. None of the bullets could touch her. Once again, she'd deployed her powers, and the bullets dusted away before they could get anywhere near her. She took in a deep breath and extended her powers until it encapsulated the two men. Much like the others before them, they dropped their guns and fell to the ground, chocking. The table between them started rotting away as well, and so did the concrete wall, soon overrun with moss and cracks. She waited until she was sure neither of them would get back up, and she called her powers off, letting out a long breath.

"Raven? It's the right place for sure."

"What did I tell you! I can never go wrong."

Clarke picked up the nearest stun-baton and turned it back on. It would do for now.

* * *

She exited the room and continued on her way to what she hoped was the main room. A henchman ran through the door at the hand of the hall, ready to take her down. She threw the stun-baton at him. It hit him straight in the forehead, and he fell to the ground, convulsing.

There was another door to her left, right before the end of the hall. She opened it quickly. A man in a white lab-coat was trembling in the corner.  
"You work here?" she asked.

The man nodded. She picked him up by the lapel of his coat and dragged him out of the storage closet. The next second, he was passing through the door at the end of the hall. He rolled off among the wooden debris until he hit the bottom of the stairs. Clarke walked in, dark tattered cape flowing behind her. The henchman to her right tried to hit her with the cross of his gun. She punched the gun out of his hands and elbowed him in the nose. He fell to the ground yelping, blood pouring between his fingers.

The room was massive and cut in half. The bottom was full of tables and desks, with medical tools and vials scattered about the place. To the right, an operating table was surrounded by three doctors, and occupied by someone, though Clarke couldn't tell who. In the middle of the room, a set of stairs led up an observation deck. Both sides were separated by a massive window. Clarke counted five guards up the stairs and two more at the bottom. But more importantly, the woman in red herself was there. Alie, standing behind the window, looking down at Clarke with a satisfied smile.

"Wanheda, it's so nice of you to finally join us. Unfortunately, this experiment was a disaster. Let's hope the next one works out better."

Clarke didn't hesitate. The gun she'd taken to the man seconds before was still in her hand. She fired all ten rounds at the woman in red. All ten bullets bounced off the window harmlessly, without leaving even a scratch. Clarke threw the gun away. Alie laughed and walked away. She was not letting her go, Clarke decided, not again.

She ran toward the stairs, and halfway there she was met with two henchmen, holding stun-batons. She avoided the one on the left, blocked the one on the right. She tried to knock the baton out of his hand. He moved away. Electricity ran through her body as the baton on the left collided with her waist. She clenched her teeth and pushed past the pain. She kneed the man to the left who was pushed back. He groaned. The man on the right tried to hit her in the head. She crossed her arms above her head and blocked the baton. She kicked the man's knee and he felt down. She then kicked him under his jaw. He fell back, unconscious before he'd touched the ground. The man on the left came back for more. She blocked his baton with her newly acquired one. Then, she punched his temple. His grasp on his baton slipped out. She hit him with hers. He fell to the ground, convulsing.

Clarke looked back up at the stairs. Everyone was gone. She had no idea how or where because she couldn't see any door up there. They'd just vanished. She turned to the next best thing. The three scientists were shaking in their lab coats when she approached them, angry blue eyes dancing from one man to the next. Finally, she settled on one of them. She picked him up by his coat and pushed him against the nearest counter.

"You better tell me everything you know, now!"

"It's... we don't know... Alie, she just came with this vial of blood, she wanted us to synthesize a serum from it..."

"Blood? Whose blood?"

"We don't know! I swear!"

"Do you still have it?"

"We don't! She made us destroy everything! But I have some documents from the research development... And the serum too!"

"Give them to me!"

She let the man go, and he and the other scientists complied. They went to fetch everything on the desks, every piece of paper, notes and numeric document saved on their computers. Meanwhile, Clarke turned to the operating table. There was a young woman strapped to the table. It took a good minute for Clarke to realize who it was.

"Ontari..."

The brunette was unconscious and pale, sweating feverishly. Clarke hadn't seen her since they'd arrested her, and she hadn't heard of her since her prison breakout, helped by Roan. Quickly, Clarke unstrapped her from the table. Ontari didn't even budge.

"What did you do to her?" she asked as the scientists came back.

"We gave her the serum. But she wasn't compatible. Alie will try again with someone else, someone more like the blood donor, I suppose."

Clarke picked up everything, every vial and paper, and placed them in the pockets of her belt. Then, she turned to Ontari once again. Her heart pinched in her chest. She pursed her lips. She couldn't just leave her there. After a few seconds of internal debates, she picked up the boiling woman from the operating table. Once again, Ontari didn't react.

"It's too late for her..." one of the scientists declared.

"We'll see about that. Now you better stay here and tell everything you know to the police when they arrive. Because if you don't, I'll find you."

She quickly walked away with Ontari in her arms.

"Raven, call my mom. I have a patient for her."


	2. Darkest Blood part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke calls Lexa for help after making some awful discoveries about Alie's experiments.

Picking up Aden from school was a very weird concept for Lexa. On one hand, she'd gotten used to her new sidekick being there every evening and every morning, and on the other, she'd never imagined she would have a kid at home, especially one whom she'd never known as a baby or seen grow up. Aden was very mature and autonomous, but he also smiled brightly every time he saw her waiting by the school's front gate.

That afternoon she'd taken him to the park, and she'd bought ice cream for the both of them. They'd sat on a bench, and Lexa would have been happy if things stayed this way longer. Aden, however, was excited to start his training of the day.

"So, what are we doing today?" he asked with a partially numb tongue.

"Today is a very important training day. It's 'let's be a kid' day."

Aden frowned.

"I'm a kid. You're not a kid, though."

"First of all, true. But second, like you pointed out, you are a kid, so you need to have fun from time to time. That means today is a no training day."

The boy pouted.

"That's not fun. I like training. See, I think training is fun, so if you want me to have fun, we should be training."

Lexa glared down at him. It wasn't her most menacing glare, though, and Aden didn't seem to care for it.

"What did I tell you? Crime-fighting isn't supposed to be fun. It's a life or death situation most of the time. You know that already."

"Well, train me then. That way you know I won't die."

"Are you guilt-tripping me right now?"

He shrugged and returned to his ice cream. Lexa's gaze turned to the park. Most of the children playing there were younger than Aden, but she could see a few installations here and there he could still enjoy if he gave them the chance.

"You sure you don't want to play?"

He shook his head.

"I'm eating ice cream."

She smiled.

"Alright fine. Tell me about your powers. How did you find out about them?"

Aden licked his ice cream one last time before he answered:

"So, you know this animated show about this super strong guy?"

"Yeah, Super..."

"Yeah, that one. Well, I was watching the show one afternoon, when I was, like five, and I wanted to do the same. So picked up the table. Only you're not supposed to pick up the table with one hand when you're five, right?"

"That's an understatement," Lexa agreed. "So wait, you can even imitate powers from fictional characters?"

"From what I found out, as long as some form of powers is being used around me, I can copy them."

"So you are completely useless on your own."

Aden shrugged.

"Well, if you train me, I won't be completely useless."

"Let's hope so."

Lexa focused once again on her ice cream when she heard something beeping in the pocket of her coat. She pulled it out. It was the portable telephone Raven had given her. That girl really did invent amazing things. She flipped it open and picked up.

"Hello?"

"Lexa? It's Clarke. I have some bad news."

Lexa's smile upon hearing the blonde's voice fell when she heard the rest of her sentence.

"Did something happen?"

"You could say that. Can you meet me at my base as soon as possible?"

"Hum, yeah, sure. Do I need my costume?"

"Possibly."

"Okay. Oh, hum... Aden's with me, too."

"You can bring him with you, don't worry."

"Alright, I'll see you soon."

Clarke hung up without another word, leaving Lexa pouting and with a strange hollow feeling in her chest. She then looked down at Aden, who'd been hanging on her every word.

"Training is cut short, we have an emergency."

"Yes!"

Aden jumped off the bench, almost dropping his ice cream. Lexa rolled her eyes and pocketed the phone once again. However, the hollowness in her chest didn't disappear, and it turned to sour bitterness as she walked back to her car. Something was awfully wrong.

* * *

The entrance to Wanheda's secret headquarters was in the parking garage of the city's Central hospital. Lexa parked on the fourth sublevel and exited her car. Aden jumped out excitedly. He was fussing, skipping behind her. It wasn't his first time in the secret base, but it didn't seem like it. Lexa didn't try to refrain him. They walked up to the staircase and Lexa pulled out the portable telephone. A small key was attached to it. She used it to unlock the metal door blocking the access to the inferior level. Once Aden was through she closed it off.

"You think my super suit is ready?" he declared, so loudly his voice echoed in the empty staircase.

"Who knows? Maybe Raven works fast."

He ran ahead, disappearing around the corner as the staircase continued to circle deeper and deeper down. He was already in the main room, talking to Raven when Lexa entered the hallway.

"Sure, it's ready, maybe I can show you."

Raven was seating on her usual desk chair, her injured leg stretched under the desk, a whole bunch of blocky computers and pieces of papers scattered in front of her.

"Show him what?" Lexa asked as she arrived.

"My super suit! It's ready!"

Lexa frowned and looked at Raven.

"Already?"

Raven shrugged.

"I was pretty bored this week. I also made a few upgrades for yours, by the way."

Lexa crossed her arms.

"Thank you, but no, thank you. I made my suit myself, I like it just the way it is."

Once again, Raven shrugged. She input a few commands on her computers.

"Suit yourself."

She pushed herself up, using her desk as leverage.

"Come on, kiddo, I'll show you how cool you're going to look."

"Yeah!"

Aden disappeared down the hallway. Raven picked up her crotch, which had been held against a headless training dummy, then turned to Lexa.

"She's in the med-bay, by the way."

Lexa nodded. She followed Raven slowly. The med-bay was a small room stuck between the previous room full of computers, and Raven's workshop. As she approached the med-bay, Lexa felt her heart beat just a bit faster than usual. She mentally chastised herself. This was a serious matter, no time to swoon.  
In the med-bay, Clarke wasn't alone. An older woman which looked a lot like her – Clarke's mother, Lexa remembered – was observing the person on the table in the middle of the room. The other bed had been pushed against the wall to make more space.

"Lexa, hey."

"Clarke, I'm here."

They both turned to Clarke's mother.

"You seem to be healing well, miss Woods," she commented.

"In big part thanks to you, Doctor Griffin."

Lexa came to stand beside Clarke, and looked down at the person. She recognized her quickly, though she was much paler.

"That's... Ontari? What happened to her?"

"She's dead," Clarke explained. "I found her in one of Alie's base. They experimented on her, and it killed her."

Clarke nodded to her mother, who closed the mortuary bag.

"I'll take her to the morgue and let you two talk."

Abby rolled the bed out of the room, leaving Clarke and Lexa standing there.

"I tried to save her but she died before I could get back here."

Lexa offered a comforting smile.

"It's not your fault."

"I know. It's Alie's. I was this close to catching her this time, but she ran away. But it's not the worst part."

Clarke pursed her lips as if contemplating whether to tell her the whole truth or not. Finally, she explained:

"Alie is experimenting with a serum which is supposed to give people superpowers. This was just the beginning. She'll continue to experiment on tests subjects until it works."

"We'll stop her together, just let me help."

"This isn't the worst part, Lexa."

Clarke let out a breath.

"The worst part is, they used your blood to synthesis this serum."

Lexa was stunned. Her mind went blank for a minute. An icy dread fell down her throat. Clarke's words echoed in her mind without seeming to make any sense.

"My blood?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure? How... How would she..."

"Probably during the fight against the Ice Queen. You lost a lot of blood then. If Roan or another one of her minions picked some up afterward... You had no way of knowing."

Lexa felt the cold feeling in her chest boil away, as anger seethed through her veins. How dare they use her blood to kill people? She was going to find Alie and rip her head off if she had to.

"No one could have known..." Clarke added.

"We need to stop her before she kills someone else."

Clarke nodded. Lexa was about to walk out of the room when Clarke got a hold of her wrist. This stopped Lexa dead in her track. Her anger disappeared completely, melting away by a single touch of Clarke.

"We're doing this together, okay? These people are dangerous, and after what happened with the Ice Queen..."

They almost died. Neither of them dared say it, but it was true. Lexa had almost died, and even Clarke had almost died. Aden's intervention had saved them both.

Lexa turned around to face Clarke. Her jade eyes found Clarke's sapphire ones. She hesitated for a second, before finally closing the distance between them. She pressed a kiss on Clarke's lips, quick, just enough to reassure her.

"Together," she declared after they parted. "Plus Aden, because there is no way he's going to stay put here."

Clarke smiled and chuckled.

"Alright. Let's change, and meet up in the computer room."

* * *

Once dressed, Lexa left the empty med-bay and found Aden waiting with Raven. He was wearing a dark green chest-plate, over a black bodysuit, with a golden brown sash around his waist. Knee and elbow guards completed the ensemble. He was holding his domino mask in his hand, a smaller version of hers. He smiled brightly at her and jumped off the stool he'd been seating on when he saw her.

"So? What do you think?"

"It's nice."

He was stunned.

"Only nice? I look super cool!"

"If you say so."

"You sure you don't want to upgrade?" Raven asked again.

"Nope. My suit is just what I need."

Lexa's suit was all banged up and covered in marks and scratches, unlike Aden's brand new one, but it always felt right when she put it on. Black bodysuit, with metal shoulder-pads and breastplate, as well as forearm and leg protections. Her red cape was hanging behind her, somehow always looking new and pristine, without a single hole through it. He sword was hanging at her belt. Her braided hair was falling down her back. She was holding her black mask in her hand, a piece which covered her eyes with black streaks falling down on her cheeks.

"Alright, let's do this."

Clarke walked into the room in costume and ready to fight. Dark blue bodysuit, with black protections, and navy-blue cape and hood. The only thing missing was her pristine white skull-shaped mask, which she was holding on to.

"What do you have, Raven?"

"Well, unfortunately, not much."

Clarke glared at her and turned to the giant television screen which took most of the wall beside the hallway.

"Surveillance camera brought back nothing, if only there were more of these around, maybe I could get a better result. Octavia did a little round, ruffled up some people, but she couldn't find anything either."

"Tell her to be careful. These people are very dangerous."

"Oh, she knows. Anyway, like I said, nothing for now."

Lexa thought for a second.

"Can you do a little cross-reference for me?"

"Hum, sure? What do you need?"

"Places with a lot of vegetation, possibly a strong light source. My powers are stronger around trees. Maybe she'll try her experiment closer to nature. Maybe a place isolated."

"Hold on a minute..."

Raven mumbled a bunch of scientific mumbo-jumbo only she understood, and soon enough, the map of the city change, and shifted. Finally, it stopped above a big warehouse in the middle of the woods, up the hill overlooking the city.

"Bingo. It has to be hers."

"Are you sure, Raven?"

"Did I ever send you to the wrong place? Seriously?"

Clarke rolled her eyes then turned to Lexa.

"Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm happy to see you guys seem to enjoy the story!   
> I wanted to thank Tre_rox and a guest for leaving comments! More badass good girls coming next week, I promise! In the meantime, leave a comment, tell me what you think is going to happen! By guys!


	3. Darkest Blood part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa, Clarke, and Aden jump into action and stop another one of Alie's experiment, just in time to save her unfortunate lab-rat...

They didn't bother with a subtle entrance. Clarke's black rover was loud as it ran through the dirt road, the sound of the engine reverberating between the trees. They parked right in front of the door, where four guards started shooting at them with automatic weapons. The bullets bounced off harmlessly on the car's chassis. Nevertheless, all three passengers lowered themselves in their seats. In between the two front seats, Lexa looked at Aden, who was suddenly very calm and collected, like she'd never seen him before.

"Aden, you stay near me. You only copy my powers, understand?"

He nodded once and adjusted his mask once again. Lexa looked back at Clarke.

"I'll take care of them. Be ready to jump out, I bet reinforcement isn't far."

Clarke nodded quickly. Lexa opened the passenger door and slid out. She crouched behind the car and unsheathed her sword. Her eyes glowed an ethereal green as energy started to whirl around her. She soon turned into a beacon of emerald energy. With a single leap, she jumped over the car and did a back-flip. The four henchmen shooting at the car only saw her too late. She landed between the two in the center. Her sword found the man on her right's calf with ease. She cut through it like it was nothing. He fell to the ground with a scream of pain. She stood up and planted her sword in his shoulder. Anger was sipping through her every move. She left her sword there and turned to the man on her left. She punched him in the chest, reaping the automatic rifle out of his hands and throwing it on the man behind her, who'd started to shift his aim toward her. The gun hit him in the face, and he doubled over in pain, disoriented. She picked up the man in front of her and threw him against the rover. The shock was enough to leave a dent in the car door.

She ducked under the fourth man's weapon and picked him up by his jacket. He was stunned when this woman, far shorter than him, raised him over her head with ease. He saw barely held in anger in her shining green eyes. She angrily showed him her clenched teeth, then turned around and threw him over her head. He landed straight on the other man, who'd just gotten back to his senses after taking a gun to the face. They both tumbled to the ground and crashed into the nearest tree. Lexa picked up her sword, and with a simple twirl of the wrist, the blade was clean of any blood.

"Let's go."

Aden and Clarke finally jumped out of the car. Aden was fairly impressed, while Clarke simply declared:

"If you could avoid busting our ride out of here."

Lexa smirked. Clarke kicked down the simple wooden door. Two henchmen where standing right in front of the doorway, weapons aimed at the ready.

"Get behind me!" Clarke shouted.

Both Lexa and Aden took a few steps back as Clarke deployed her powers. Bullets rained down on them, but as usual, they turned to dust before they could reach them. However, there was no going forward now. Lexa looked around. There was a window on the right side of the building.

"When God closes a door..."

She ran up to the window, Aden on her heels. The green light intensified around her as she prepared herself to jump through. Aden had started mimicking her powers, though it wasn't very necessary just yet. She jumped through the window, breaking the glass and the wooden frame around them in the process. She landed on a messy counter-top, clustered with medical equipment and notes. Aden jumped in behind her, landing beside her with ease.

"... I break down the window!"

Suddenly, half of the room was focused on her, including the two men keeping the entrance. Clarke called her powers back and punched the right now, sending him on the desk nearby. As she turned to kick down the left one, Aden, surrounded by a whirl of green energy, zipped from the counter-top and up on the desk to kick the first henchman in the temple. Lexa didn't worry. As long as he was close to either Clarke or her, he should be fine.

Lexa took in the room quickly. Five metal cages – empty, thankfully – occupied most of the left side of the room. Stairs led to a small elevated platform on the right far side. She could see Alie retreating in a hurry, two of her minions flanking her. There was a hidden door behind a bookcase. Lexa would have jumped after her in an instant, if not for what she saw on the operation table. A young girl, just about Aden's age, barely struggling against the restraints. She was feverish and pale, much like Ontari. But she was conscious, and Lexa thought there was still a chance.

She jumped off the counter-top with every intent on getting the girl out of there. However, a henchman came at her from the left, and she could see another one circling the table from the right, and trying to get the girl out of the leather straps and off the table. Lexa didn't even think. She acted. She planted her sword in the foot of the man coming to her left. He roared in pain. She used the table to bound above it. Both of her feet collided with the other man's skull. She sent him flying against the platform. A third one came, armed with a stun-baton. She dodged two of his blows before giving two of her own, in his ribs. He dropped his baton and she picked it up. She stunned him with it.

The man with a pierced foot had taken her sword out with much roars and pain, and he had wobbled around the table and up to her. He brandished her sword, and she threw the stun-baton away. With both her hands, she blocked the blade above her head. She kicked him in the knee. He let go of her sword. She pivoted and kicked him in the face. Much like his companion, he was sent against the platform. Lexa sheathed her sword and turned to the girl, swiftly unbinding the straps.

"Heda!"

She looked up to Clarke and Aden, who'd dealt with their side of the room.

"I'm sorry. Alie got away. But this one's still alive. Maybe if we bring her back to your base quickly your mom can save her."

Clarke nodded and quickly checked the girl's vitals. Her pulse was beating, just strong enough to almost appear normal. She was pale and sweaty, much like Ontari had been, but she was conscious, and she looked up at Clarke with confused green eyes.

"What..."

"Sshh... It's okay... We're here to help. See?"

Clarke took off her mask and her hood, showing her face to the girl, who must have thought death had come for her.

"We're here to help. What's your name?"

The girl blinked twice, slowly, her name coming in a tired whisper:

"Madi..."

"Okay, Madi, I need you to stay awake. We'll take you to the hospital, okay? Don't fall asleep."

Clarke nodded at Lexa, who picked up the little girl as if she weighed nothing. They hurried to the car, Aden jumping in the passenger seat while Clarke took the backseat. Lexa placed the little girl there with her, Madi's head resting on Clarke's lap. Lexa then jumped in front of the wheel.

"Get us out of here," Clarke declared.

Lexa couldn't agree more.

* * *

Abby was ready to receive them when they arrived, and Madi was placed in the med-bay. She'd fallen unconscious on their way there, but her heart was still beating, which Clarke considered something. Abby forced everyone out of the room, and anxiously the supers took off their armors and waited in the computer room. Raven was still searching for Alie, though it was clear no one in the trio was ready to get back out there.

Aden eventually fell asleep on Raven's couch, and Clarke got tired of waiting, so she disappeared through the garage. Lexa waited a bit longer, her gaze rhythmically falling on the door to the med-bay, then Aden, then the door to the garage. After a while, she felt Raven nudge her arm.

"You should get some fresh air too. I'll call you guys if anything happens."

Reluctantly, Lexa nodded. She stood up and stretched. One last look at the med-bay door. One last look at Aden's sleeping form. She walked through the hallway and into the garage. The rover, as well as Clarke's motorbike, were still parked there, so Lexa assumed Clarke must have gone on foot. She walked down the poorly lit exit tunnel. Each of her steps echoed in the evening silence. She yawned on her way there. It must have been almost 10:30 p. m. and she was tired from this roller-coaster of emotions. She assumed Clarke must have been feeling the same.

The tunnel emerged on a countryside road, surrounded by trees. Lexa recognized the place all too well. It was the road leading to her firm's ecological installations. Clarke was seating at the edge of the tunnel, looking out at the peaceful nature, and listening to a nearby owl hooting. Lexa went to sit beside her as silently as possible, and soon after, Clarke let her head rest on Lexa's shoulder. Lexa smiled.

"I'm not going to ask you whether you're tired then."

Clarke didn't answer. They listened to the owl and the crickets for a while, watching as more and more stars appeared in the night sky. Lexa recognized a few constellations here and there, but she kept it to herself.

"I'm sorry for not calling you back until now."

Lexa looked beside her at Clarke, whom she'd suspected had fallen asleep until she had actually spoken.

"Don't apologize for that. You were busy."

"So were you."

Lexa tried to shrug, but with Clarke's head on her shoulder the gesture was imperceptible.

"I'm kind of glad you didn't."

Before Clarke could pull away or look offended, Lexa explained:

"I was figuring things with Aden. I won't say I have it all figured it out yet, but I'm glad I got the time to settle things a bit with him before I could focus on you. On us. If us is what you want?"

"Why wouldn't I want an us?"

"I don't know."

Lexa couldn't help but smile.

"I'm happy you want an us too."

She felt Clarke take her hand, which she relinquished happily.

"How about I take you on a date?" Clarke asked, "When all of this is over?"

"It would be my pleasure. But not on a Tuesday. Apparently, Aden has decided Tuesdays are Monopoly evenings."

"Oh, interesting. Do you know that I happen to be very good at Monopoly?"

"I wouldn't doubt it. I, however, suck, like you wouldn't even imagine!"

They both chuckled.

"Really? Alexandria Woods, head of the ecological department at Polaris, sucks at Monopoly?"

"There's a reason why I'm the head of department and not the financial adviser."

"Well, I'd like to see how bad you are."

"Of course you would! Fine, you're on! Next Tuesday, bring any lucky charm you possess. Calculators are not included. I bet Aden is going to crush you anyway."  
Clarke's laughter died down as it turned into a yawn. She closed her eyes and nuzzled closer to Lexa.

"Now let me sleep. I can't go back into the fight without at least four hours of sleep."

Lexa was all-too-happy to comply.

* * *

Clarke had almost fallen asleep for good, her head cushioned by Lexa's strong shoulder when Raven called them back. Clarke stretched and yawn, but she was back on her feet in seconds. Adrenaline had replaced any drowsiness either of them could be feeling. This was it.

They walked the way back through the tunnel silently, hand in hand, only accompanied by the echo of their footsteps, and the sound of the panel hiding the tunnel closing behind them. When they finally reached the garage, Clarke closed off the entrance to the tunnel as well. They returned to the computer room, where Aden was still happily napping. Raven was talking in hushed whispers with Abby, though it may have been mostly because they didn't want to wake Aden up.

"Is she okay?" Clarke asked instantly.

Her mother nodded.

"She's going to pull through."

Both Clarke and Lexa let out a long relieved breath. Abby continued:

"She's asleep right now. Her vitals are stable and her fever's gone down."

Clarke would have been relieved, if not for the way her mother seemed to be holding her breath. There was more. Of course, there was more.

"She's a success, Clarke."

"What?"

"The serum, it worked. She assimilated it. I tried to flush it out with fresh blood but it was too late. Her blood has turned black and I think she may wake up with powers. Your powers, miss Woods."

Lexa's head was spinning. She found the nearest stool and sat down. It may have been the tiredness speaking but she felt like lying down and never get up again. This girl, this twelve years old, was going to wake up soon, and she might just wake up with her powers. Her powers. Which had taken her years to master before she stopped breaking down doors?

Clarke's hand came to rest against her back.

"It's okay, Lexa. We'll see when we get there."

"You two seem tired," Abby nodded. "You should get some rest. I have a shift tonight and if anything happens Raven can just call me."

"Yeah, go sleep you two," Raven declared from her chair without even looking at them. "O's on her way, once her round is over she's going to keep me company until you guys come back."

"Alright."

Clarke helped Lexa up.

"Let's go back to my place, it's closer."

Lexa simply nodded. She picked up Aden, who was such a heavy sleeper that he didn't even stir. She threw him over her shoulder, and the trio exited the headquarters.

* * *

The walk back to Clarke's apartment was mostly silent. No one seemed to notice that under their sweaters they were wearing bodysuits, which was for the best. As soon as they arrived, Lexa dropped Aden on the couch and went to the bathroom. Clarke took the time to give the boy a blanket before following Lexa to her bedroom.

Lexa cleaned up her face and was rubbing a towel on it when Clarke found her.

"I'm sorry," she said, motioning to the towel she'd taken out of the drawer, "I just needed..."

"It's okay."

Clarke took the towel and placed it away before she pulled Lexa to her and kissed her. Lexa reacted quickly, winding her arms around the blonde's waist. When they parted, Clarke suggested:

"Let's get some sleep?"

Lexa nodded tiredly. They slid into Clarke's bed without another word. All anxiety and frustration they could have been feeling about their day were washed away by pure tiredness, and they fell asleep holding onto each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I just came back from Captain Marvel! I know this has nothing to do with anything but just, I came back from Captain Marvel, I might just see it two or three times again as soon as possible because it was awesome! You definitely have to go see it! Personally, I am definitely going to write a few Captain Marvel stories, starting this afternoon.
> 
> I wanted to thank a guest for leaving a comment. The super fam is not going anywhere, in fact, you'll definitely get to see more of them soon!
> 
> But anyway, as usual, I hoped you enjoy, we finally got some Clexa softness, and a little nod to Fear the Walking Dead. I'll see you next week for the next chapter!


	4. Darkest Blood part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something's wrong with Raven, and our duo experiences some setbacks

Octavia was coming back from her last nightly round. She stretched and yawned, just about ready to jump into bed. She'd stopped quite a few petty criminals, and she'd even stopped a bank robbery. All and all, it was a good night of work.

"Hey, Reyes, can I crash on the couch?" she asked as she entered the computer room.

No answer. She quickly realized why, as she found Raven slouched over her keyboard, obviously very deep in sleep. She sighed. She supposed the couch was free then.

She went to the workshop to take her costume off. She took off her heavy bulletproof jacket and threw it on a clustered table, too tired to bother putting it on its mannequin. She pulled her thick metal gloves off and threw them on top. She should probably talk to Raven about a new upgrade to lighten her equipment a bit. She pulled her shoes off and left them in a corner. In only her black pants and a tank top, she made her way to the med-bay, just to check on their little rescued girl and make sure she was still asleep.

She popped her head through the closed door. The lights turned on. The bed was empty. She pushed the door open in a hurry. The bed was empty. Only a few drops of black blood left on the pillow betrayed the fact that the girl had ever been here. The IV had been pulled out of her arm and left, leaking, on the ground. Octavia felt panic size her throat. She must have woken up and since Raven was asleep, she ran away. She needed to find her quickly. There was no telling how far she would have gone by now.

Octavia turned around, only to see Raven standing in the doorway. She jumped back in surprise.

"Jesus Christ, Reyes! You just scared the shit out of me! The girl's gone! We have to..."

There was something awfully wrong with Raven. She didn't move upon hearing Octavia's words. Didn't even react, or make a joke, or curse. She just stood there, blocking the way.

"Raven?"

Octavia wasn't expecting the other girl to attack her. She barely avoided a punch thrown in her direction, then managed to block a kick. This wasn't Raven. Raven had taken a bullet to the spine and had a stiff leg. This Raven stood on her wounded leg like it was nothing. Octavia stepped back, her back hitting the operating table. Raven followed her inside. Under the neon light of the room, Octavia finally got a good look at her friend's eyes. They were peppered with many tiny metal dots, the likes of which Octavia had never seen before. They crawled over her eyes in a strange, almost hypnotic pattern.

She really didn't want to hurt her friend, but she didn't have much of a choice. Octavia ran up to the wall and used it to push herself higher. Her fist collided with Raven's cheekbone painfully. She could feel the impact all the way to her shoulder. Raven seemed to feel nothing, as she didn't even budge. She simply stared up at Octavia with that same dead look. Octavia reacted quickly. She pivoted behind Raven and put her head in a deadlock between her arms, one under her jaw and the other on the side of her head, blocking her there.

"Come on Raven, wake up!"

Instead, Raven sank her teeth in Octavia's arm, deep into her flesh, drawing blood. Octavia screamed painfully but held on, strengthening her hold on her friend.

"You have to wake up, come on!"

"Octavia!"

She looked behind her as best as she could, and saw Abby from the corner of her eye.

"Raven's been hypnotized!" she explained quickly.

The next second, Abby's hand passed over her shoulder, and a needle sank into Raven's neck. She relaxed in Octavia's hold, who finally let her go. She held in a curse when Raven's teeth were finally pulled out of her arm, and a large quantity of blood slid down to her fingers, before dripping on the ground.

"What happened? Where's the girl?"

Octavia let out a long sigh.

"I don't know."

"Call Clarke, we need her back here now."

Octavia nodded and picked up a bandage from a nearby shelf to wrap her arm into before running to the computer room.

* * *

Clarke had woken up as soon as her phone had rung. Lexa had taken a few minutes to get out of bed. Aden was still yawning when they made it to the secret headquarters. They found Octavia laying in the couch, a bloody bandage wrapped around her arm, and Abby seating in Raven's chair, looking at the computer screen.

"What's going on, mom? Where's Raven?"

"I tied her up in the med-bay."

Both Clarke and Lexa frowned.

"What?"

"She attacked me," Octavia explained. "Someone took control of her."

"And Madi?"

"They got her."

"How?"

Abby motioned to the computer screen. Both Clarke and Lexa leaned beside her to look. They watched the feedback from the surveillance camera above Raven's office. Raven was on her computer, as usual, when something, an indistinct mass of gray dots, passed through the computer screen itself and latched onto Raven. It was drowning her, passing through the nose and mouth until she choked. She fell back against her keyboard, unconscious. Then, the mass extracted itself from her mouth and took shape. They watched in horror as Alie appeared in the middle of their hideout. Five of her minions followed, coming from the main entrance. They disappeared down the hall, and came back with an unconscious Madi, before leaving.

"She's a meta?" Lexa asked.

Clarke angrily punched the nearest table.

"Goddamn it! We have to get Madi back!"

"She could be anywhere now, Clarke," her mother reasoned. "And without Raven, we are down our best asset."

"You don't know how to help her? That's a first," Clarke replied sourly.

Abby didn't reply, simply stared down at her hands.

"I'll do my best, but I have no idea what's controlling her."

Lexa thought for a second.

"I know someone who could help her, possibly."

"Who?" Clarke asked.

"A telepath, her name's Anya, you know her as Unity, she used to fight with me before she decided to retire. I've seen her talk to comatose patients before, she might just get through to Raven."

Clarke nodded.

"Bring her in."

* * *

Anya wasn't all too pleased to be woken up by Lexa's phone call. She came nonetheless when she understood what was going on, with the promise of a warm coffee waiting for her there. When she reached the hospital parking lot, Lexa was waiting for her outside the staircase, with a paper-cup from the hospital cafeteria.

"This is what you call coffee?" Anya sneered at her.

"It's the best I could do on such short notice. I'll buy you a keg of coffee once we're done."

Anya seemed to think it over. Finally, she took the small cup and downed it in one swig.

"Deal."

Lexa led her down the stairs and into the hideout. Anya looked around as they went down and commented:

"No wonder they got inside so quickly. Anyone could stumble on this place."

Lexa shook her head.

"They have a security system but it was deactivated from the main computer."

"Exactly. I would like to meet the dumbass who made such a piss-poor security system, just to show them how it's done."

"Yeah, about that..."

They arrived down the stairs and went through the hall into the computer room. Aden was seating on a stool and watching Clarke as the blonde tried to unjam their system. Octavia had fallen asleep on the couch, her tiredness beating her anxiousness by a long shot.

"Clarke, nice to see you again."

Clarke turned into her seat and held out her hand for Anya to shake.

"You too, though I wish the circumstances were better."

"Lexa said you need me to go in the mind of your friend."

"Raven, yes. She was attacked by Alie. We supposed she took control of her. She's sedated, for now, but it won't last and we can't keep her like this. Unless my mom can figure something out, you're our best chance."

Anya took her jacket off and threw it on the couch, on Octavia's legs, waking the brunette with a start.

"Well, since you saved Lexa's life last week, I can try. Plus, I love to have people in my debt."

Anya advanced toward the med-bay. Clarke glanced at Lexa, who shrugged. They didn't have much of a choice anyway. They followed Anya into the med-bay. Raven was lying on the bed there, handcuffed and leg-bound. Her eyes were closed, but minuscule bumps had formed under her eyelids, and they were moving in sync from time to time.

Anya approached her carefully. Soon enough, a thoughtful frown appeared on her face. She winced.

"There's something blocking me..."

She moved to stand beside Raven. She carefully placed her hand on the younger woman's forehead and took in a sharp breath. She pulled her hand quickly as if she'd been electrocuted.

"She's trapped in there. I'll see if I can do something to get her out. It may take some time, though."

"Please, you have to try," Clarke said.

Anya nodded and replaced her hand on Raven's forehead. Then she stood there, frozen, her eyes staring into nothing. Not even her chest seemed to rise and fall like it should. Lexa placed a hand on Clarke's shoulder.

"We should let her do her thing."

Clarke nodded, and they walked back to the computer room, closing the door of the med-bay behind.

* * *

Lexa was looking at the big TV screen on the wall, arms crossed, as Clarke cycled through everything they had found.

"Too far. In my opinion, if she wanted to take her there before she would have. It's out of our reach."

"Maybe that's precisely why she would take her there this time. They could be on their way right now."

Lexa shook her head.

"Madi's powers are going to be very unstable, trust me. They would never make it this far, especially since she could wake up at any moment."

"What about your police lead?"

"Indra's looking into it, but it's hard to search for a girl who hasn't been reported missing."

Clarke sighed.

"This is useless! There's no telling what she could do with Madi, now that she knows the serum works!"

"Clone her, brainwash her, kill her,..." Octavia sleepily suggested from the couch.

"Thank you, Octavia," Lexa replied bitterly.

"Hey, just say the word and I'll be back out there looking for her..."

Suddenly, they heard a loud commotion coming from the med-bay. The door flew open, and Raven stomped out, limping as fast as she could to her computer.  
"I'm going to kill her! Then I'm going to clone her so I can kill her again!"

Clarke quickly stood out of Raven's chair, and Raven fell into it and started furiously typing on her keyboard.

"She thinks she can just stop me like that? No one stops Raven Reyes! No one!"

Clarke and Lexa exchanged a look. Anya came walking out of the med-bay with a little vial in hand.

"Here you go. Your grease monkey is back to normal. I think."

Lexa took the vial out of Anya's hand. Inside, tiny metal particles were swarming and trying to get out, to no avail.

In front of them, Raven was so focused on her computer she didn't even hear Anya calling her a grease monkey.

"Alright, I'll be on my way," Anya finally declared. "Someone needs to explain why the head of department isn't coming to work today."

"Thank you, Anya."

"You owe me a keg of coffee, remember."

"Hum... sure."

Just as she was about to head out of the exit, Raven called back:

"Hey, Grounder Princess!"

Anya turned around.

"What?"

"You and me, tonight at eight?"

"Will you even be free by then?"

"Guess you'll have to wait and find out."

Anya shrugged.

"Sure, why not."

Clarke, Lexa, Octavia, and Aden watched them interact with complete confusion. Finally, Anya walked away. Two seconds later, Raven shouted:

"I'm in!"

"What?"

Octavia jumped out of the couch to come and see what was going on on the screen. It was a camera feed coming from the inside of a massive mansion, right outside the city.

"How did you..."

"That bitch shouldn't have underestimated me! I used her own powers against her to track her down. She's dead."

Clarke smiled and clapped Raven's shoulder.

"Good work, Raven!"

"Thank you, now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to lie down..."

Octavia helped Raven up and toward the couch while the three others rushed to the workshop to get their costumes on.

"O, keep an eye on Raven, alright?"

"Or I could always come with you, you know..."

When no answer came, Octavia sighed:

"That's what I thought."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! This was definitely my favorite chapter so far! And if you want even more reasons to celebrate, you won't have to wait an entire week for the next chapter! I'll be posting the last chapter of the story and the epilogue on Saturday! I hope to see you guys then!


	5. Darkest Blood part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our trio of fearless heroes mounts a final attack against Alie to rescue Madi.

The mansion was surrounded by a massive field of perfectly trimmed grass, with no visible roads leading to its entrance. Men were patrolling outside, armed to the teeth and alert. The trio was hiding in the forest, as close to the field as possible without being seen.

"What do we do?" Aden asked.

"We have to cut her any chance of retreat. It's now or never."

Lexa said. She could feel her powers ready to be used, it sent shivers all over her body and tickled the nape of her neck.

"I can go in first. Cut them all down."

"Will you be able to make it in one run?"

"That's what we're about to find out."

Lexa took her sword out and held it in her right hand. She looked at the field ahead of them once again. She counted at least fifteen men, and there were probably more on the other side. She might just beat her speed record this time.

She took in a deep breath, and green energy swirled around her. She took her position, one leg back and ready to push herself, shifting her body weight. She exhaled and pushed herself forward.

In the blink of an eye, she'd ran half the field, cutting down any man in her path. She left a green streak behind her, the same color as the grass, like a ghost image which was swiftly dispersed in the wind. All they heard was the air whistling after her before they felt the pain of her blade.

She made it through half the field before word spread out. She needed to make sure no gunshot was fired, she knew, but with those happy trigger men, it would be hard. She pushed herself harder, her legs aching. Her breath became shorter as she ran faster and faster still. Her cape was almost torn off her shoulders from the speed.

When she finally stopped, she fell to her knees right behind the mansion. She was desperately out of breath and just about ready to collapse. The blade of her sword was dripping with blood. It had stained her costume in splashes, a few drops here and there, and some streamed down her cheek. Clarke and Aden ran up to her, and Clarke kneeled beside her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... just give me a minute... Did I get them all?"

"I think so. Outside anyway."

"Good..."

When she was finally able to push herself up, Lexa cleaned her sword with her cape. They silently made their way around the mansion, and up to the front door. Lexa and Aden took a step back as Clarke prepared herself to use her powers, and take down the wooden door.

"Nightblood?"

He looked up to her with serious, almost calm eyes.

"Once we're inside, I want you to search every room until you find Madi. If you can set her free, get out of here and wait in the car. If you don't, come find me, okay?"

"Yes, Heda."

"And... be careful, okay?"

He nodded.

Clarke took in a deep breath and let her power out. The door cracked and groan, the white paint fading away and being replaced by rot. The stone at their feet cracked in half. The walls lost their paint as well. Clarke kicked the door down.

Four guards were waiting for them in the lobby. Lexa ran inside and took them both down without hesitation. She could already hear more men coming down the hall. She looked beside her. Clarke had taken care of the two other men, and Aden was gone, leaving behind only a streak of green light which led up the stairs. They nodded at each other and rushed toward the henchmen.

Lexa pivoted her sword in her hand, holding the blade toward her, and with her powers, she threw herself forward. Her sword found the first man's side, then the second, then the third, and finally, she slid to a stop. Behind her, Clarke had taken the first man's inattention as an opportunity. She'd uppercut him, sending him back against the man behind him. With a kick, she'd pushed them both in the third man. Behind them, Lexa straightened and twirled her sword, before planting it in all three men at the same time without even looking at them.

Four men had formed a line in the first room, mostly filled by a big modern metal statue. They aimed at them with automatic rifles. Lexa charged her powers and stomped on the ground, cracking the parquet floor and sending the four men flying. As they were knock-back against the statue, Clarke stepped in front of Lexa and deployed her powers, asphyxiating them before they could get back up.

Lexa could hear more people coming from the stairs, running above their heads. She assumed more people would come down the hall as well. She needed to make sure Aden was alright.

"I take upstairs, you take downstairs?"

"See you on the other side," Clarke agreed.

Lexa hoped she was talking about the other side of the mansion, and not any other sides. She charged her powers and jumped up. She broke through the roof and the parquet floor. She punched the ground as she landed, sending another shock-wave which pushed back every single henchman around her.

* * *

There were seven around her, but a swift hit of her sword took care of three of them. Another time she would have been more careful, more willing to spare lives, but she was tired of Alie's little game of cat and mouse. Now was time to end it. She blocked a stun baton with her blade and pushed its owner through the nearest wall. She cut one of her assailant's calf before kicking him back and sending him tumbling down the stairs. She threw her sword at one of the guys who was trying to run away, pinning him to the wall by his shoulder. She kicked the last man through the window, and he dropped on the grass like a stone in a pond.

She took her sword out of the wall and punched the lights out of the man who'd been impaled by it. She was surprised not to see anyone else coming her way. Had she really gone through all of the henchmen? Maybe Alie had run out? Hiring thugs probably wasn't so easy when your employees had a reputation or getting ass-kicked by superheroes.

A green streak appeared beside her and came to a stop a few inches further, as Aden slid on the parquet.

"She's not up there."

"Alright. Wanheda's still down there. I'll go help her. Go around the house and look through every window. Same as before."

Aden nodded and disappeared down the stairs. She'd rather keep him in a place where no one was going to jump at him if she could. She jumped through the hole she'd made, landing gracefully on the floor below. The hall continuing through the mansion was clustered with unconscious henchmen, some more likely to get back up than others. Lexa followed the trail quickly, all the way to the last room. There, she found Clarke in the worst position possible. Alie held her by her cape. Her free hand had turned into millions of tiny metal dots, like the ones they'd found over Raven's eyes. They were coming dangerously close to Clarke's face. Beside them, chained to the desk, Madi was sitting on her knees.

"Don't take another step," Alie warned.

"It's over. I don't know what you wanted to achieve with that serum, but it's over now. Let her go."

Lexa took another step toward them, and Alie lowered her arm until some of the dots were gliding over Clarke's cheek. The blonde held her breath anxiously, pursing her lips to keep her mouth shut.

"I don't know what you think, but this is just the beginning. So here is what is going to happen. You are going to walk out of here, alone, now. You'll stop looking for the girl, and maybe we'll return blondie. Or I can kill you both right now. Choice is yours."

Lexa stared at Clarke. She could see the fear in her blue eyes. Lexa tried to see anything else, any idea which Clarke could silently communicate to her, any small gesture that would indicate even the semblance of a plan, something, anything to get them out. But there was nothing. Reluctantly, after one last glance at Madi, Lexa took a step back.

The window shattered into a thousand pieces when Aden jumped through, a swirl of green energy around him. He rolled off and disappeared behind a leather couch. Alie was distracted for a second, and Clarke elbowed her in the chest. Alie dropped her with a painful groan. Lexa powered up her arm and threw her sword at the woman in red. It impaled her in the sternum, and she wobbled under the shock.

Lexa rushed to Madi and Aden. Her sidekick had broken the chains with his bare hands and was helping the girl up. Lexa didn't hesitate. She picked Madi up and threw her over her shoulder. Then, she picked up Aden, placing him under her arm. She glanced at Clarke and nodded. The blonde understood instantly what she had in mind. She let her powers range free, just as Lexa disappeared from the room, leaving a faint green outline behind.

* * *

Lexa didn't stop running until she passed the edge of the field and into the forest. There, she dropped the kids off and sat down her chest heaving. They watched as, slowly but surely, the white paint of the house peeled away. The stone foundation crackled. The wooden walls splintered and rot. The windows exploded and turned to dust. The house groaned and cracked, and started leaning to one side. Soon enough, there was nothing left of the house, and a massive circle of dirt had formed where the grass, caught in Clarke's area of action, had dried off and puffed to dust.

When Clarke finally joined them again, she was smiling. She took off her mask, let out a long breath, and fell to her knees beside them.

"Alie's just a bad memory now. Dusted away."

"Good."

She turned to Madi, who was still seated beside them, silently. A lot of things must have gone through her mind, she imagined. Slowly, held out her hand until she could take Madi's. The girl jumped but didn't move away. She looked up at Clarke with green eyes.

"Madi, right? I'm Clarke. This is Aden and Lexa."

Aden waved at her. Lexa was taking an opportunity to breathe to the fullest, taking long, deep breaths of the midday nature.

"Can you tell us what happened to you?"

"I don't know. I just woke up in a lab and they gave me something. And then I woke up again and I was at the mansion. I think."

"Alie kidnapped you?"

Madi shrugged as if she weren't sure.

"Do you know where your parents are, maybe we can take you to them?"

She shook her head.

"They're dead."

Clarke and Lexa exchanged a look. Before they could add anything, Aden said:

"Mines too, but it's okay. Lexa's taking care of me now."

He looked up at his mentor.

"Can we take care of her too?"

"Hum... I don't know... Problem is I can only have one sidekick at a time and I already have you."

Aden then turned to Clarke:

"You don't have a sidekick. You can take care of her then?"

The two adults exchanged another look. Finally, Lexa declared:

"We'll see, alright? For now, let's take her back to base, and make sure everyone's okay."

* * *

Madi was being checked out by Abby and Aden was helping Raven with an upgrade for Clarke's costume, leaving Clarke and Lexa to talk. They stood in the computer room, arms crossed, unsure of where to take this conversation.

"Maybe the serum didn't work. Maybe she won't have powers."

Lexa thought it was strange that Clarke was the one worrying about Madi's power potential, rather than she was. She'd made her peace with it. If Madi had her powers, however...

"I know it may seem strange, but I feel responsible for her," Lexa declared. "I know I'm not the one who gave her the serum, but these are my powers. It took me years to learn how to control them and tap into their potential. It was hard, especially since I was on my own. But if I help her..."

"You already have Aden, switching one for the other isn't a solution."

"I know, but I think Aden was right."

"About what?"

"You. You could take her in. I mean, I don't want you to feel obligated. Maybe we could cheat, you know? Put your name on the paper but I'll be the one taking care of her. I don't mind."

Clarke let out a long sigh.

"If we're doing this, we're doing it right."

"Meaning?"

"If Madi still has powers, I'll take her in as my sidekick. You can help her control her powers but I'll take care of her."

"Are you sure? I don't want to force you into anything. It's not a simple choice to make."

"You're one to talk. All it took was one of Aden's puppy eye look to make you agree."

"What? No, of course not! That would be irresponsible, at best."

"Whatever. You know he has you wrapped around his little finger."

Clarke walked away toward the med-bay, and Lexa shouted back:

"We'll see who's whipped once you've spent a week alone with your sidekick!"


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few weeks later...

"4, 5, 6... Pennsylvania Avenue. Who owns Pennsylvania Avenue?" Clarke asked as she looked up from the board.

They were seating in Lexa's living room, around the coffee table. Aden was seating on the side of the table, his dollar bills and proprieties all well assorted along the board. Madi was seating at the end of the table, a small pile of bills poorly stacked up in front of her. Lexa and Clarke were seating on the other side. It used to be Lexa at the end and Clarke on the side, but little by little they'd slid toward one another until Clarke was leaning against Lexa, and the brunette's arm was around her girlfriend's shoulder.

"Not mine," Lexa assured.

Clarke looked up at the kids. Aden was looking through his proprieties with excitement, which died down when he realized it wasn't his either.

"I think it's mine," Madi finally declared.

She checked through the few proprieties she owned until she found the right one.

"Yep, it's mine. Let's see... I have three houses there, right?"

"Three?" Clarke let out. "Are you sure?"

They all glanced at the board. Three little plastic houses rested on the board, right beside Clarke's dog piece.

"Alright then, how much is this going to cost me?"

"$450," Madi announced.

She held out her hand and added:

"Please?"

Clarke was stunned.

"Wait, seriously? That's all I have!"

She counted her bills quickly.

"Scratch that, it's more than what I have!"

Lexa straightened up a bit and took her arm off of Clarke's shoulder.

"So, do you want to take a loan?"

Clarke glared at her.

"Hell no! I'd rather stop now. These two are too strong for me."

She handed all of her bills to Madi who took them with a smile. Lexa hugged her with one arm.

"Oh, it's okay. You can play with me, babe."

"Oh what, are you buying me now? Miss Woods is expanding her empire."

"Actually, I was thinking more of a merger..."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Hum, hum."

Clarke turned around and kissed Lexa, who reciprocated quickly, taking Clarke in both of her arms. Their kiss could have lasted much longer if the two preteens on the other side of the table hadn't very loudly cleared their throats. The two women separated, but Clarke remained in Lexa's arm, only pivoting to face the kids.

"Can we play?" Madi complained.

"Yeah, I'm winning right now!"

"Not for long though."

"Yeah, you won't beat me. Plus, it's my turn. I'm so buying a hotel."

Aden picked up the dice from the table hurriedly and threw them. As he was moving his piece forward, Clarke leaned into Lexa and whispered:

"We'll talk more about that merger later."

"Anytime," Lexa promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! So this was the end of the story! There will definitely be a sequel, just not right now as I'm going to be pretty busy with a lot of things in the next few months. As usual, I wanted to thank everyone who left kudos and comments, and I want to thank all of you for reading it till the end! Have a nice weekend you guys!


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